Verizon Wireless and Samsung Mobile have announced the launch of the Samsung Intensity II on the Verizon Wireless network. It’s already available online and will debut in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores sometime in the next few weeks.
For the environmentalists out there the Samsung Intensity II is made partly from recycled plastic. The exterior battery cover is made from 35% post-consumer materials, which is recycled plastic extracted from water bottles or other recycled polycarbonate materials.
“We’re excited about the Intensity II launch because a major part of Verizon’s sustainability strategy is providing products that utilize post-consumer materials,” said Jim Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon.
For customers interested in calculating their own carbon footprints, the Intensity II offers an eco-calculator to track car fuel mileage, efficiency and estimated amount of carbon dioxide emitted.
As for features, the Samsung Intensity II boasts: a horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 2.2-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) screen, a music player, one-touch access to social networking sites, support for up to 32 GB of memory, VZ Navigator, and better still – a 1.3MP infrared camera with night vision!
The Samsung Intensity II costs $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
Samsung Mobile has announced that the new Samsung Haven is now available for order on Verizon Wireless. Samsung emphasizes that the Haven has earned the prestigious Good Housekeeping Seal and is ideal for those smartphone users who want an easy-to-use wireless phone packed with features.
So what sets the Samsung Haven apart from the others?
2.2-inch internal screen
Large, easy-to-read display
56-note polyphonic ringtones
Adjustable font size
Dedicated keys for one-touch quick access to Emergency 911 (E911), speakerphone, voicemail, voice commands, In Case of Emergency (ICE), and My Pictures
Customers can program the ICE button with up to three personalized contacts that first responders can easily find in the event of an emergency
It also sports a number of what it calls “Lifestyle” features:
Well-Being and Health Tools – A reminder alarm with up to five alarms, a fitness trainer that offers 15 unique stretching techniques, four different healing music selections to help relieve stress, and a medical information application that lets users make medical notes and stores their information such as allergies and medications
Personal Organizer and Tools – Calendar and scheduling assistant, calculator with currency converter, world clock, and stop watch
The Samsung Haven is already available for purchase online and will be available on July 29 at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores for $39.99 with a new two-year contract.
With the NFL 2010 NFL Season fast approaching it’s important that Verizon Wireless customers are aware that a new version of NFL Mobile from Verizon Wireless is now available in time for kickoff. The updated NFL Mobile sports a new look and feel and gives users two options to stay up to date on teams, players and happenings around the league.
NFL Mobile now lets every user see the latest news, headlines, stats and scores from the first drills in training camp all the way to Super Bowl XLV.
Better still, NFL Mobile will feature live audio broadcasts of every regular season game throughout the entire 2010 season!
And for those NFL Mobile users who want premium NFL video content on their phones can simply add a V CAST Video subscription to get video on demand with player and team news and to watch live streams of:
NFL RedZone, the wildly-popular channel from NFL Network that airs live or near-live look-ins of every key play and touchdown from Sunday afternoon games
NFL Network, which airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football
NBC’s Sunday Night Football
NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football
So how do you get it?
Verizon Wireless customers with Android phones can download it directly from the Verizon Channel in Android Market. Customers with Blackberry smartphones just text “NFL” to 8915 for a link to the application.
There is no monthly subscription for NFL Mobile, but customers will need a V CAST Video subscription ($10 per month) to access NFL Mobile video content of NFL Mobile.
Verizon Wireless said today that V CAST Apps, its mobile applications storefront, is now available on select BlackBerry smartphones. V CAST Apps gives customers a one-click process to purchase a wide array of apps with the ease and convenience of direct billing; apps purchased are invoiced on customers’ monthly account billing statements.
“Consumers want to do more with their wireless phones, and V CAST Apps is another way Verizon Wireless is bringing the most desirable applications to the nation’s most reliable network,” said Ryan Hughes, vice president, business development and partner management for Verizon Wireless. “The rollout of V CAST Apps provides proof that the company is focused on delivering the most innovative services and applications that will entertain, educate and make their lives a little more fun.”
V CAST Apps is currently available on the BlackBerry Bold 9650, BlackBerry Storm29550, BlackBerry Curve 8530 and BlackBerry Tour 9630 and will be coming in the next couple weeks to the BlackBerry Storm 9530 and BlackBerry Curve 8330. Verizon Wireless will send all BlackBerry smartphone customers that use BlackBerry Internet Service an icon that links to V CAST Apps, giving customers access to hundreds of productivity, navigation and education apps as well as games and entertainment.
It’s official. The Microsoft Kin is as dead as Betamax video cassette player. In only 5 short months the originally dubbed “Project Pink” phones managed to go from the latest and greatest to afterthoughts in the brutal world of smartphones.
The KIN ONE was first available for $49.99, and the KIN TWO for $99.99, but by June had dropped to $0 and $50 (with a 2-year contract of course) respectively.
Now Verizon has reportedly halted all Kin sales and begun shipping back any that remain unsold.
They never really caught on, and in a crowded smartphone marketplace competition is fierce.
“The Kins are misbegotten, crippled creatures compared to pretty much every smartphone on the market,” noted a PCMag review. “They’ve been priced as smartphones, with smartphone data plans, and they’re being sold as smartphones, so the comparisons are fair.”
Personally, I can say that I’ve never even seen or heard of anybody who had one. Can you?
The other day I mentioned reports that Motorola’s Droid X has an e-Fuse chip that some wondered if it “locks the bootloader and will brick the phone if the bootloader is modified. ”
Motorola has responded by putting those fears to rest.
Motorola’s primary focus is the security of our end users and protection of their data, while also meeting carrier, partner and legal requirements. The Droid X and a majority of Android consumer devices on the market today have a secured bootloader. In reference specifically to eFuse, the technology is not loaded with the purpose of preventing a consumer device from functioning, but rather ensuring for the user that the device only runs on updated and tested versions of software. If a device attempts to boot with unapproved software, it will go into recovery mode, and can re-boot once approved software is re-installed. Checking for a valid software configuration is a common practice within the industry to protect the user against potential malicious software threats. Motorola has been a long time advocate of open platforms and provides a number of resources to developers to foster the ecosystem including tools and access to devices via MOTODEV at http://developer.motorola.com.
What it means is that the e-Fuse will shut the Droid X down if you try to run an unapproved bootloader. But, it will not brick the phone.
So for those worried that Motorola was taking a hardline approach with the Droid X can breathe a sigh of relief.
Fans of Motorola’s Droid X may have reason for second thoughts with rumors that it has an insane e-Fuse chip that “locks the bootloader and will brick the phone if the bootloader is modified. ”
If the eFuse fails to verify this information then the eFuse receives a command to “blow the fuse” or “trip the fuse”. This results in the booting process becoming corrupted and resulting in a permanent bricking of the Phone. This FailSafe is activated anytime the bootloader is tampered with or any of the above three parts of the phone has been tampered with.
The eFuse is a rewrittable module and thus once it has been tripped it can be repaired but this procedure can only be done by Motorola. It requires hardware (I’m not sure what type) and the program (I’m not sure what Motorola is using) written in JTAG.
However, some have countered that that the new may not be as dire as many are claiming.
“OMAP handsets already have e-fuse in place as part of the M-Shield hardware security technology built into TI’s OMAP system on a chip,” says Boy Genius. “It is on the very hackable DROID and the not-so-hacking-friendly Milestone, but it is not being used by Motorola to lock the bootloader of the handset. The current theory being put forth by the non-alarmists in the Android hacking community suggests that the DROID X is locked in a similar manner to the Milestone.”
So though the jury’s still out on jailbreaking, it probably won’t be enough of a reason not to purchase a Droid X.
Verizon Wireless and Motorola today announced that the Droid X will be available online and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores tomorrow for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
The Droid X is the newest innovation on Android to run on Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, sporting an HD camcorder, 8mp camera, and 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities. The Droid X also comes with loads of memory – 8 gigabyte (GB) onboard and a 16GB memory card. For customers seeking the ultimate in storage, the new 32GB SanDisk microSDHC card even allows customers to expand Droid X’s memory to 40GB!
Users can also take advantage of the Droid X’s 4.3-inch high-resolution screen for viewing the latest movies from BLOCKBUSTER On Demand presented by V CAST Video.
In case you missed the video review from the other day you can watch it here.
With the highly anticipated Motorola Droid X expected to debut on Verizon Wireless this Thursday it’s worth mentioning that some have had a chance to get an early look at the impressive smartphone, perhaps making the decision to buy one for yourself even easier.
The Droid X sports high-speed Web browsing; a fast 1GHz processor; 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities; large 4.3-inch touchscreen; 8GB of memory; 8-megapixel camera; HD camcorder; and DLNA and HDMI connectivity to download, stream and share personal HD content.
It will retail at $200 with a mail-in rebate and a two-year contract.
The Droid X can also rent and buy movies from Blockbuster that play at 800-by-480 resolution on the phone’s screen. A newly-updated NFL mobile app on Verizon Wireless will stream live games to the phone, and V CAST Video will provide other TV clips to choose from as well.
Verizon Wireless and Samsung Electronics Corporation have announced that the Samsung N150 netbook is now available. What makes the Samsung N150 so special is that it combines a sleek design with up to seven hours of battery life and built-in Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband network connectivity.
Specs:
Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz processor
Built-in 3g connectivity
Built-in chargeable USB port that serves as a charger for mobile devices even when the Samsung N150 is turned off
Weight: 2.73 pounds
Size: 10.4” x 7.4” x 1.05”
Memory: up to 1 GB DDR2
Screen: 10.1” non-glare LCD WSVGA LED backlight
Resolution: 1024 x 600
Hard drive: 160 GB 5400 RPM (max)
The Samsung N150 is available for order starting today in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores for $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year contract. A limited time promotional price of $29.99 with a new two-year customer agreement is also available.
Customers will need to buy a Mobile Broadband plan for either $39.99 with a 250 MB monthly data cap ($0.10/MB overage) or $59.99 with a 5 GB monthly data cap ($0.05/MB overage).
Verizon Wireless and Samsung Mobile have announced the launch of the Samsung Intensity II on the Verizon Wireless network. It’s already available online and will debut in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores sometime in the next few weeks.
